On The Way Down
by Lee Davies
Summary: Harry and Karen try to iron out their relationship after the necklace incident.
1. Default Chapter

Hello all… this is my very first Love Actually fic, so please try to be kind to me! This particular story takes place during the month of lost time at the end and tried to explain what's going on with Karen and Harry's relationship after he mildly screws it up. My characterization will probably be freakin' bollocks, but I'm going to try anyway. I, of course, in no way own Love Actually, but if I did, I would SO own Jaime or Harry (I LOVE Colin Firth and Alan Rickman). Flames will be generally ignored and used to roast my principal, but constructive criticism is always welcomed and appreciated. Here goes nothing!

The car ride home from the Christmas concert was somewhat silent. The children were all abuzz, but beyond talking to them and reserving a few words for him, Karen was silent. Harry cursed himself mentally for what seemed to be the thousandth time or so since she had confronted him. Pulling into the garage, he climbed out. "Karen, once the children are in bed I must talk to you." Harry murmured as he helped Bernie put the bits of his costume away. Looking at his face, Karen saw that he was determined and knew that she would not be able to put him off. Deciding that the sooner she got it over with the better, she sighed. "All right. I'll meet you in the bedroom in 5 minutes."

He sat on the edge of the bed and waited patiently for her to come. Karen strode into the room mere moments later. "Okay Harry, what is it?" she asked. He fidgeted for a moment, then rose to his feet. "I've had an offer from an American company to go and observe some of their different offices and techniques in hopes of perhaps making a merger. I would be gone for a month, and I thought that I might take it so we can have some time to think about…us." he finished softly. "Will you be taking anyone with you?" Karen asked, not daring to look up at her husband. "No." he replied firmly.  
"Ah, I see. Well, I must admit that it seems like a sound plan. When will you be leaving?" she asked. "Two days from now." Standing up, Karen looked out the window. "Good luck, Harry. I hope the trip is a success." Harry winced. She sounded as concerned about his trip as an African would be about a decaying wildebeest carcass lying in the middle of the desert. "God damn mother fucking shite wanked buggered areshole I'm screwed." he groaned as he went back downstairs. Looked like another night on the sofa for him.

It had been a week since Harry had gone, and Karen hated to admit it, but she was beginning to miss him. "Oh Daniel, this sucks major arse." she groaned. Daniel smiled, and merely refilled her tea mug. "I could say something here, but I really want to live!" he joked. "Damn well better keep your mouth shut, or I'll make Carol do it for me!" she shot back.  
Growing more serious, Daniel sat down across from her. "So what actually happened between you and Harry? I've gotten some vague hints from David but nothing concrete. He said if he flat out told me, you'd threatened to shove a 20 foot barge pole up his arse." Karen smiled very evilly. "It's so nice to know that one man on this planet takes my threats seriously." she commented sweetly. Daniel sighed. "Are you going to tell me or am I going to have to play 20 Questions?" Setting down her tea, she glanced down at her wedding ring and was horrified to find that there were some tears in her eyes. "Get a grip on yourself, girl. If you cry all the time, nobody's ever going to shag you." Daniel teased, reminding her of the words she had once told him. "Shut up, you old wanker." she replied with a watery smile.  
Quickly, she filled him in on the incident with the necklace, the confrontation, and Harry's subsequent journey to America. "Want me to kill him when he gets back?" her friend asked sympathetically when she had finished. "Oh Dan, I have no idea what on earth I want to do with that man. One part of me would love to kick him in the arse repeatedly with some good combat boots, and another part of me wants to go marching down to his office and tell that whore to flirt with someone else's husband because she's not getting mine! I finally got him trained." Karen said. Daniel chuckled, and replied soothingly, "Whatever you decide, let me know so I can come videotape it and have it for posterity's sake!" She laughed then, a real laugh. "You'll be alright, Karen. Harry loves you in his own reserved way. I know of that Mia woman at his work, and I can tell you she has a real reputation for trying to put the moves on her employers." Daniel said off-handedly.  
A glint appeared in Karen's eye. "Does she now? I might just have to have David do some investigating for me." "I didn't hear anything." Daniel replied as he took their mugs and placed them in the sink. "Good man. I need to go. Take care Daniel and tell Sam I said hello." "Will do. Go kick some whore arse!" he responded cheerfully.

Karen hadn't had anymore time to think about her relationship with Harry. She had agreed to take on a new position as the head of a women's book club and she'd even started walking for 45 minutes a day.  
Looking at her calendar, her stomach tightened. Harry was due home in about a week. She wondered what on earth was going to happen. "Oh sod it, no time for that shite right now." she told herself as she hurried out the door.

Heathrow was full of arrivals that day. Daniel's son Sam was overjoyed to see Joanna, the girl he was in love with. David returned, and Natalie's enthusiastic greeting brought a smile to her face. She wouldn't be surprised if the two of them didn't end up getting married.  
"There's Dad!" Bernie cried. Daisy slipped under the rail and was lifted up in her father's arms. "How are you darling?" he asked, looking at Karen carefully. "I'm fine. I'm fine." she replied somewhat coolly.  
Looking at his luggage cart, Karen noticed a very oddly shaped case sitting on top of his other bag. "Harry, if I may ask, what in the bloody hell did you bring back from America with you?" she asked. He looked at her, and she was shocked to see a sheepish half-smile on his face which was also tinged with a slight blush. "It's a guitar." he muttered. "A guitar?" Karen replied, feeling somewhat flabbergasted.  
He nodded. "I used to play when I was younger and I really had nothing to do in the hotel room at night, so my very nice guide who plays a little herself offered to take me to a music shop that had some very nice deals running on acoustics." he replied.  
Karen couldn't believe Harry had never told her about playing the guitar, since it was obviously something he enjoyed doing. She saw the light go on in his eyes when he talked about his new instrument. "You'll have to play something for us when we get home." she commented politely. A dazzling smile which almost robbed her knees of their strength crossed over his face. "I'd like that very much." he beamed.

After dinner was over, Harry proudly unveiled his new guitar. Karen had to admit it was very beautiful, with it's rose colored wood. "Play us something Dad!" Daisy cried. "Yeah, do it Dad." Bernie added. "Yes, let's hear it Harry.' Karen said, curious as to what the guitar sounded like.  
"Your wish is my command." he intoned playfully before he pulled a pick out of his pocket. Settling himself carefully on the edge of the sofa, he placed the guitar on his knee, found the right area for his arm to rest on the body, and began to strum. Karen was triplely shocked when her husband, whom she'd thought she knew everything about opened his mouth and began to sing. He had a gorgeous voice that washed over her from head to toe.

Sick and tired of this world There's no more air.  
Trippin' over myself Goin' nowhere Waiting, suffocating, no direction I took a dive and

On the way down I saw you And you saved me from myself.  
And I won't forget the way you loved me On the way down I almost fell right through But I held on to you

I've been wondering why It's only me Have you always been inside Waiting to breathe It's all right, there's Sunlight on my face I wake up and yeah, I'm alive 'cos

On the way down I saw you And you saved me from myself.  
And I won't forget the way you loved me On the way down I almost fell right through But I held on to you

I was so afraid Of going under But now the weight of the world Feels like nothing, no nothing.  
You're all I wanted You're all I needed

On the way down I saw you And you saved me from myself.  
And I won't forget the way you loved me On the way down I almost fell right through But I held on to you

Finishing with a flourish, Harry looked at his family to watch their reactions. "Dad, that is SO awesome! You've gotta sing more often!" Daisy said. Bernie nodded his agreement while Karen looked…dazed. "Darling?" Harry asked, wondering if she had something on her mind. "That was…absolutely amazing." she said finally. A shy smile crept over his face and the next thing he said floored her.  
"I was thinking that if you want, I could teach you a little. Maybe even show you a Joni Mitchell song or two." he teased. Karen smiled at him, realizing that she had missed this man greatly. Remembering that she had wanted to keep her distance for a while, she wondered if she was going to have the willpower to hold out, especially if he was going to giving her personal guitar lessons.  
"Maybe he can teach me courses in other things." she thought before giving herself a gigantic mental slap. "Bad girl! Just because you haven't had a bloody shag in over a month does NOT mean that you are going to give in or throw yourself at him! At least wait until there's a mutual throwing!" Looking over to see what Harry was doing, she almost audibly groaned. Of course he would be bending over at that exact moment, giving her a very nice view of his arse. "Bugger me with a wanking barge pole!" she screamed internally. Turning and finding her gaze on him, Harry smiled and winked at her. Karen rose a little unsteadily to her feet and made her way into the kitchen. It was going to be a VERY long night, and she definitely wanted some chocolate to see her through. "Thanks a lot Daniel for bringing up shagging. I'll bloody get you for that." she muttered as she went to the fridge and pulled out the carton of ice cream.

Harry was somewhat pleased with how his homecoming had gone. He knew that his and Karen's relationship had a long way to go and he was going to have to rebuild so many years of trust, but he felt she was worth it. "What was I thinking?" he wondered as he set himself up on the sofa. "Why on earth would I throw everything away on that…bimbo?" Sighing heavily, he seated himself on the sofa and buried his head in his hands. "Stupid, stupid me." he said softly. "You're not stupid, Harry. You just did a typical man thing and thought with your balls." Karen replied from the doorway. "It was still a very stupid thing to do." he groaned.  
She looked closely at him. He seemed thinner and more tired than he usually was. "Stop beating yourself up, Harry. It really doesn't suit you and that end of it is already said and done. We only can move forward from here." "You're right…as usual." he replied respectfully. Yawning, he stretched and removed his glasses. Setting them down on the table, he looked her right in the eyes. "I'm very glad to be home." he said simply. "I'm glad to have you home. See you in the morning." 


	2. Chapter 2

Hello again. I'm not sure if anyone likes this story, but I'm going to try and see if I can see it through to completion. As before, flames will be used for random fires and roasting. I forgot to say who the song was by in the first chapter, so bad me! It's "On The Way Down" by Ryan Cabrera. 

Karen awoke the next morning wanting a shag so badly that the sound of Harry's cheerful "Good morning" almost sent her running downstairs just so she could pounce on him and have her evil way with him. "Oh for God's sake, I've got to calm down! It's just bloody sex." she grumbled. "Nothing to get so worked up over."

Meanwhile, Harry was below pacing the kitchen. The sound of the bedsprings moving as Karen got up were almost too much for him. "God, I wish I could just go up there and sweep her off to bed for the day." he thought. Looking down at his mug, he muttered, "Maybe I need to stop drinking so much tea. It's obviously done something deranged to my mind."

When Karen entered the kitchen, there was a mutual eyeing of the other. "Dear Lord I want her!" Harry thought. What actually came out of his mouth was, "You look very nice today." Karen smiled a trifle triumphantly. Her walking was finally beginning to pay off. "Oh thank you dear. Looking closer at his face, she realized that he wasn't wearing his glasses. "Did something happen to your glasses?" she asked, concerned.

"No." he replied. "I got some contacts. I just didn't want to wear them yesterday with my eyes being so tired." Karen's hand was a little wobbly as she set her tea down on the table. Now one could clearly see into Harry's beautiful and inviting chocolate brown eyes. She had never really noticed how his eyes held a glimmer of mischievous light in them. "You look quite nice as well.' she replied, mentally kicking himself for not saying something more brilliant. "Thanks." he said in his soft velvet voice. Closing her eyes, Karen thought that she could listen to him talk all day.

"Now I know I'm crazy." she told herself firmly. "For bollocks sake, I'm not some randy school girl! I can restrain myself. Besides, after his first day back at work with that floozy Mia, he may change his mind."

Harry trudged out the door with a heavy heart. He hated leaving Karen at home, but she assured him that she was going to go for a walk, then maybe a visit to Daniel or David.  
Pulling into his parking spot, he climbed out of the car and had almost made it into work when an all too familiar voice called out, "Nice to see you, boss." Turning, he saw Mia walking toward him, supreme confidence written in her stance. "Mia." he said in calm acknowledgement. She frowned slightly, and he knew that this was not quite the reception she'd been expecting. "How was America? I bet you were lonely." she respond, giving him that look. "I found the trip exceedingly fun, and certainly didn't get lonely. I got the opportunity to meet a lot of very nice people, learned some new things like baseball and bowling, and it looks like we may indeed have a merger." he retorted.

"Oh really? Where will the main office be?" she asked, seemingly interested. "They will still be here, but we will have some American personnel coming over to work." "I see. Well, I suppose it's only fair to warn you that I had a job offer while you were gone." Mia answered with a hint of steel in her voice. Harry smiled slightly. He was done rising to meet her petty challenges and decided that enough was enough. 'I hope you take it. It may be a new opportunity to get out of an old environment and have a chance for advancement elsewhere. You are excellent at your job, and if you need a reference I would be happy to supply one." Mia was starring at him now, almost in open shock. Chuckling to himself, almost evilly, Harry continued. "There's a very nice young lady who was my guide in America whom I was thinking of bringing over here to work. Her uncle lives near the office and she would be able to be close to him. I suppose that your leaving is actually a blessing in disguise for everyone concerned." he finished with a beaming smile.

"Oh sod off Harry." Mia said disgustedly. She swept past him into the office and he breathed a sigh of relief. He had been able to successfully stand up to her.

Reaching into his pocket and pulling out his cell phone, he hit speed dial. "Hello, Francesca Harrison speaking." a voice said on the other end. "Hello kid, it's Harry." he answered, feeling happy to be speaking to his young American friend. "Hey Harry, how's everything? Did you get the reception from hell from your family when you landed?" she inquired tentatively. "No, it went fine. Thanks for asking. " "The reason I called is because I'm getting rid of the floozy Mia and I'd like you to come over here and work for me here. The merger is pretty much a sure thing so I wanted to offer you her old position." "As long as flirting with the boss is NOT in the job description, count me in!" He gave a shout of laughter at the cheeky comment, and Sarah, who could hear him even through the door, wondered who he was talking to. She'd seen Mia come stalking in and guessed that Harry had finally gotten enough balls to get rid of her.

The call ended shortly, and when he opened the door, Sarah immediately swept in. "Okay, who were you talking to." she asked without preamble. "My new American secretary." he replied smugly.

She gazed at him in admiration. "So you finally told her royal man stealer off I take it?" Harry frowned. "Royal man stealer? Has she gone for Prince Charles or something?" Sarah laughed out loud. Harry had a devilish twinkle in his eye and his grin told her that he was finally out from under the spell of Mia. "With her track record, she just might go for him!" Karl came in then with something to show Harry. "Um, Sarah…are you doing anything for lunch?" he asked hesitantly. "Nope." "Would you like to go to lunch with me?" "Sure." she replied, beaming happily. An answering smile spread itself over Karl's face and he walked out the door whistling, "Come on Eileen."

"All I ask is that you name your firstborn son after me. You so owe me…" Harry murmured. Sarah snapped out of her reverie and smacked him on the arm with a nearby magazine. He quickly got his own ammo and the smacking war went on for nearly 5 minutes.

"Keep it down! Some of us are actually trying to work here instead of acting like children." Mia's sour voice commented from outside. "And some of us are trying not to vomit while others try to put the moves on the boss." Sarah whispered. Harry snorted, attempting not to burst out laughing, but he was failing miserably. He finally got up and stuck his head out the window where he proceeded to howl like a madman. Sarah joined him shortly and they had a good chuckle.

"You're all right, Sarah. I hope things will work out for you and Karl." "You aren't the only one, believe me. Do you know Jaime Bennett?" Harry smiled. "Yes, I know Jaime. He's my nephew." "Oh really? Well then you've met Aurelia.' "Yes I have. She's a nice young lady." Sarah smiled. "We're going to be going on a double date with them tomorrow…and I'm turning off the cell phone!" "Gasp! Be still my reeling heart!" Harry said, theatrically grabbing his chest and going back behind his desk, sinking back into his chair. "Oh bite me." Sarah retorted. "Not my job, but I bet Karl would take a crack at it." Harry taunted drolly. She blushed and made a face at him. "Bye. I'm off to try and get some work done before my lunch date." "Good luck!" Harry called after her.

Another one of his workers stuck their head in his door. "Hey boss, your wife is here!" Harry looked up, somewhat startled. "Um, uh, send her in!"

Karen was walking back after having a nice long talk with Daniel when she realized she was near Harry's office and it was nearly lunch time. Making a spur of the moment decision, she decided to go see if Harry wanted to have lunch with her.

A nice employee named Michael took her back to his office. Sarah waved to her, looking very amused about something. "I'll call you later." she muttered as Karen passed by. "I'll look forward to it." Mia gave her no more than a cursory glance before going back to her computer with an expression that would have scared anyone. "Wonder what went down today?" she thought silently. Harry rose from his desk with a beaming smile on his face. He was happy to see her.

"Hello darling! I didn't know you were in the neighborhood." he said, hugging her. The smell of his cologne and the warmth of his body almost proved to be her undoing. "Must…not…pounce…" she told herself firmly. As he stepped away, he could see a speculative look in her eye. "Mia didn't look very happy." she said.

"If you're fishing for information my dear, let me just say that I will have a new secretary soon and Mia is no longer any concern of mine anymore." Harry replied majestically. Looking down at his watch, he noted the time and asked, "Do you want to go for lunch?" "That's what I was going to ask you! Certainly." "All right then. Let me get my coat on, and then we can sneak past the royal man stealer without setting off the bimbo alarm." he said dryly. Karen couldn't help but laugh to hear Harry talking about Mia in those terms.

Carefully opening the door, he took her by the hand and pulled her swiftly by. "And we're out of here!" Harry whispered. Karen chuckled, and thought that underneath her old husband lurked a very fun man. She wondered if she would have the chance to get to know that guy.

He opened the passenger door for her and she got into his car. "Where to?" he asked after climbing in beside her and starting the car. "Ah, it doesn't really matter to me. You can pick." Harry thought for a long moment, then said "There's a nice Greek restaurant around the corner. It looks like a dive but the food is great." She looked at him, surprised. "I never knew you liked Greek food!" He gazed at her, a slightly sad smile written on his face. "You never asked." he replied softly as he pulled out of the parking lot and made for the restaurant.

Karen was having a wonderful time with Harry. He was describing his first attempts at bowling and had her in stitches. "So I rolled the ball so hard that it actually came up out of the gutter and knocked a few pins over!" "Oh Harry, stop! My stomach hurts from all this laughing!" He chuckled evilly and replied, "Oh you think the bowling is funny? Let me just tell you about baseball!" She groaned. "Oh no…what did you do?" Harry gazed at her, pouting slightly. "I only swung the bat around so far I knocked the umpire over!" Karen gasped, her eyes wide. "Good Lord Harry! You're a danger when you play sports!" "I know, I know." he laughed as their food came.

Studying him as he munched his gyro, she knew she would have to ask him what she wanted to now. "Harry? I have a rather difficult question that I honestly want the answer to." Looking at her, his movements slowed. "You want to know why I did it." he stated. " Yes… how did you know?" He gave her his sad smile again. "I know you." he replied. Wiping his hands off with a napkin, he thought for a moment.

"If you'd asked me a month ago why I'd given Mia that necklace, I don't know that I would have been able to give you a straight answer. However, a good American friend I made had her parents go through the same thing so I was able to figure some things out for myself." Reaching out across the table, Harry took Karen's hand in his.

"It seems like after the first few years we were married, the whole…romantic factor slipped out. I didn't feel as though you wanted to touch me, kiss me, have anything physical to do with me. I felt…sort of like an 80 year old man no one would go near with a 65 foot barge pole. I tried sometimes but you always seemed to rebuff me, going to listen to Joni Mitchell instead." He said the last part with a smile, but Karen could see the pain in his eyes. "I guess when Mia made no bones about the fact that she found me attractive, it made me feel good about myself. I can honestly say though that even though I felt pretty chuffed for a while, it was not worth the pain that came with it. It was not worth hurting you." he finished softly.

Tears glistened in Karen's eyes. "Oh Harry, whenever you wanted to have sex, you always seemed like it was something you knew you should do but didn't really want to." A shocked expression made its way onto his countenence. "What? Me not want you? Are you crazy?" he asked. "Same goes for me, you sexy old beast." she replied. A look came into his eyes and she immediately recognized it. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. "Hello, Sarah? It's Harry. I'm not coming into work this afternoon…hey now, behave yourself or I'm telling Karl!" Karen laughed. "You want to talk to her? Olay." He handed the cell to Karen. "Hello Sarah." "Hello yourself. Just wanted to wish you happing shagging!" "Sarah! Be good!" "Okay, okay…you and the boss have a nice afternoon." the secretary said with a wicked voice. "Bye." Karen said firmly and ended the call.

Standing up and taking the bill, Harry asked, "Can we go now?" Karen smiled to herself. There was definite hunger in his voice. "I'm ready." she replied. "Woo hoo! Sex here I come!" she told herself. This was shaping up to be a VERY nice day.

Once they got into the house, Karen got a surprise. Harry had ordered her a guitar of her own, and a complete Joni Mitchell guitar book. "I thought I'd show you how to play some things." he whispered. "That would be nice." she responded. Every nerve in her body was on fire.

Harry showed her how to sit on the sofa and hen climbed behind her. She almost audibly groaned as he pulled her flush against him. Reaching out, he placed his hands lightly over hers. "Just follow my fingers and I'll show you what to do." he said, his voice now having dropped lower and acquired a huskyness that made her yearn.  
She tried to focus on the guitar and was amazed at how quickly and deftly Harry's hands moved. Once she got over the initial shock, she realized she was enjoying learning a song she knew. "Okay, now I'm going to explain how to read tablature." Harry said.

He showed her what the lines and numbers meant. "Oh, that's not too hard!" she said, absurdly happy at this. She made a mistake and turned to look at him. His brown eyes were twinkling at her merrily. "Um, Harry? I think that's enough guitar for one afternoon." "Agreed." he replied. Suddenly, Harry stood up with Karen in his arms.

"What are you doing?" she laughed. "I'm taking my sexy wife to bed where I can ravage her until I'm satisfied. I haven't had a bloody shag in too long!" he growled. Looking up at him, she wondered why this hadn't happened sooner. "Move it, guitar boy. You're not the only one who wants to shag!" "Your wish is my command." Harry purred as he kissed her and she lost all coherent thought.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to my three reviewers! You guys are awesome! The first song is Ryan Cabrera's "True" and the song that Harry is writing is actually one that I made up. Please read and review…it makes me feel loved and want to write, hint hint! 

Karen lazily opened her eyes and found herself wrapped in her husband's arms. "Good afternoon." he said, his voice a low velvet purr. "Good afternoon indeed." she replied, feeling sated and very content. "Are you ready to get up?" he asked.  
"Shouldn't I be asking you that question?" she retorted playfully. Harry growled deep in his throat. "Saucy wench. However, the children are due home from school in about 10 minutes, so I suggest we motivate our under-sexed selves into the shower and make and effort to havesome semblance of decency." She let out a screech and leaped from the bed. He followed closely behind her, which resulted in a joint shower that almost turned into another connubial pursuit of lust in the bathroom.  
Hurriedly drying her hair and pulling some clothes on, Karen raced downstairs. Harry came down a few minutes later just as Daisy and Bernie were coming in the front door. "Hey Dad, what are you doing home?" his daughter asked as he swept her up into a hug. "I was still feeling a little tired after my trip so I came home and took a nap." he replied sedately. His wife's eyes twinkled at him from over the top of Daisy's head and he winked.

Dinner was a rowdy affair with both of the children telling their parents about their respective days. "There's going to be a dance at school." Bernie remarked off-handedly. "He asked someone and she said yes." Daisy revealed. Bernie's face took on the appearance of a thundercloud. "I thought I told you not to say anything about that, dummy!" "I'm NOT a dummy!" "Yes you are, dummy!" "BERNARD CHARLES, ENOUGH!" Harry bellowed. Both of his offspring starred at him in astonishment. "That goes for you too, Daisy Elizabeth. No more of this fighting or neither of you are going to this dance." Harry said sternly, "Yes Daddy." they both chorused softly.  
Karen was impressed with the way her husband had handled their children. "I should let you get on them more often!" she teased as they were washing up the dishes. He merely smiled, and she was struck by what a difference it made to his face. "You should smile more often…you look handsome." she remarked, feeling absurdly shy.  
He came up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and put his chin on her shoulder. "I have a reason to smile now." he replied simply. Tears came to her eyes, and a few of them trickled over. His hands turned her around to face him, and his brown eyes looked down concernedly into hers. "What are the tears for?" he asked gently. "Happiness." she said.  
"Good. I've probably caused you enough tears of sorrow for one lifetime." Harry replied, hugging her close to him. They stayed like that for a few minutes until the giggling of Daisy could be heard from the living room. "Life calls!" Karen commented wistfully. "Until bedtime does." he replied in a low, velvety voice. "Down, guitar boy." she warned jokingly. As she walked away from him, she put a little extra sway in her step and was gratified to hear him stifle a groan. "Hah." she thought triumphantly.

At around 8:30, the children were bored and there was nothing on t.v. Karen looked into the kitchen to find Harry sitting on a stool at the kitchen table with his guitar, looking at a new tab he had acquired. "Play something for us, dear." she begged. The children added their pleas to hers.  
A smile quirked his lips as he dragged his stool into the living room and sat in the doorway. "Well, this song is something that I heard on the radio the other day, and I liked it so I thought I would learn how to play it. It's called "True"."

I won't talk  
I won't breathe  
I won't move 'till you finally see  
That you belong with me.  
You might think  
I don't look  
But deep inside  
The corner of my mind  
I'm attached to you.  
I'm weak, it's true  
'Cause I'm afraid to know the answer  
Do you want me too?  
'Cause my heart keeps falling faster.

I've waited all my life  
To cross this line  
To the only thing that's true  
So I will not hide  
It's time to try  
Anything to be with you.  
All my life I've waited…  
This is true.

You don't know  
What you do  
Every time you walk into the room  
I'm afraid to move.  
I'm weak, it's true  
I'm just scared to know the answer  
Do you see me too?  
Do you even know you've met me?

I've waited all my life  
To cross this line  
To the only thing that's true  
So I will not hide  
It's time to try  
Anything to be with you.  
All my life I've waited  
This is true

I know when I go  
I'll be on my way to you  
The way that's true

I've waited all my life  
To cross this line  
To the only thing that's true  
So I will not hide  
It's time to try  
Anything to be with you.  
All my life I've waited  
This is true

Harry finished with a flourish and turned a bright shade of red as his wife and children applauded him. "Hey Dad, you should play at an open mike night. You're really good!" Daisy enthused. "Yeah, Dad." Bernie chimed in.

Once the children went to bed, Karen came downstairs to find Harry messing around with his guitar and humming to himself. "What are you doing?" she asked curiously as she sat beside him. "I'm trying to write my own song." he replied distractedly. "Really? Wow." she muttered, impressed.  
He looked up, and grinned. "You can hear what I have so far if you want." he offered modestly. "I'd like that. Play away, guitar boy." she replied saucily. Narrowing his eyes at her, he began to strum.

I wish I could take back The times I was gone,  
The times I was angry,  
The times I was wrong.  
I wish I could gain back The trust we once had,  
And I'd give my life up To just make you glad.

All I can say is how sorry I am,  
And how much I need you in my life,  
I almost threw it all away,  
But the only one who makes my soul complete…is my dearwife.

Clearing his throat embarrassedly, Harry looked over at Karen. There were tears in her eyes, but a smile on her face. "You have no idea how much that means to me." Putting his guitar down, he extended his hand to her and the pair went upstairs. They got ready for bed, but instead of turning their backs to each other, Harry reached out and pulled her into his arms. "I love you." he whispered as the lights went out. "I love you too." she replied. Life was good.


End file.
